Wakesurfing is a thrilling water sport that is gaining popularity around the world. It involves riding a specially designed board on the wake of a boat, without being pulled by a rope. Wakesurfing offers an endless range of tricks that can be performed on the board, each with its own level of difficulty and style. In this blog post, we will discuss some of the most popular wakesurf tricks that you can try.
Basics
Pumping: This trick involves turning and carving up and down the face of the wake to gain speed. It is one of the fundamental tricks in wakesurfing and is necessary to maintain your momentum and progress to more advanced tricks.
Riding Backside: This trick involves riding with your back facing the wake, which means you are riding on your heels. It is a basic trick that will help you become more comfortable on the board.
Switch Stance: This trick involves riding with the opposite foot forward, also known as Fakie. It is a great way to challenge yourself and improve your balance and control on the board.
Rail Grab: This trick involves grabbing the board's rail while the board is on the wake. You can perform a single or double grab, depending on your skill level.
Fire Hydrant: This trick involves placing your front hand on the board and taking your front foot off, stretching it out. It is a simple but stylish trick that can be performed while riding.
Sitting Duck: This trick involves placing your back hand on the board and taking your back foot off, stretching it out forward. It is a fun trick that can be performed while riding or as a starting position for other tricks.
Hokey Pokey: This trick involves placing your back hand on the board and taking your back foot off, stretching it out backward. It is a great way to add variety to your tricks and keep things interesting.
Knee Down/2 Knee Down: This trick involves placing one or both knees down on the board, creating a kneeling position. It is a useful trick that can help you maintain control and stability on the board.
Cheater 5: This trick involves extending your front foot (toes) close to the nose of the board. The more credit you will receive from judges, the further forward (nose) your rear foot is.
Hang 5: This trick involves extending your front foot (toes) over the nose of the board. The more credit you will receive from judges, the further forward (nose) your rear foot is.
Hang 10: This trick involves extending both feet (toes) over the nose of the board. It is a challenging and stylish trick that requires a lot of balance and control.
Skiing: This trick involves standing with your feet parallel to each other, facing towards the boat. It is a simple trick that can be used to maintain speed and momentum.
Sit Down: This trick involves sitting down on the board with your legs stretched out in front towards the nose. It is a relaxing and fun trick that can be used as a starting position for other tricks.
Coffin: This trick involves laying down on your back on the board. It is a simple but stylish trick that can be used as a starting position for other tricks.
Drop and Paddle: This trick involves going to the extreme rear of the wake, getting down on the board, and paddling back into the power zone. It is a useful trick that can help you maintain speed and momentum.
Body Varial: This trick involves jumping and spinning 180 degrees in the air while the board stays in the same direction. It is a challenging and stylish trick that requires a lot of skill and control.
Floater: When a rider and board "floats" on top of the wake. This is one of the base tricks in wakesurfing.
Floater Shuv Out: A combination trick where the rider performs a Floater and then executes a Shuvit to turn the board back into the wake.
Boardslide: A trick where the rider slides the board 90 degrees on the crest of the wake for at least one second, with the tail of the board going over the wake first and the rider facing the boat.
Lipslide: A trick where the rider slides the board 90 degrees on the crest of the wake for at least one second, with the nose of the board going over the wake first and the rider facing away from the boat.
Chop Hop: A trick where the rider performs a Floater and then executes an Ollie off the top of the wake, landing back into the water.
Stalling: A technique where the rider applies pressure to their back foot to slow down or "stall" the board, splashing water forward.
Slash Carve: An aggressive carving turn off the top of a wave.
Shuv-its
Shuv-it 180: This is a trick where the rider spins just the board backside 180 degrees under their feet and lands with the board "backwards".
Shuv Grab: A Shuv-it trick where the rider grabs the rail of the board while spinning.
Frontside Shuv 180: This is a trick where the rider spins just the board frontside 180 degrees under their feet and lands with the board "backwards".
360 Shuv: A Backside 360 degrees Shuv-it is a trick where the rider spins the board backside 360 degrees under their feet.
Big Spin: This trick combines a 360 degrees Shuv-it with a frontside 180-degree body spin.
Bigger Spin: A more advanced version of the Big Spin, the Bigger Spin is a 540 degrees Shuv-it with a 360 degrees body varial in the same rotational direction.
River Dance: This trick combines a backside 180 degrees Shuv-it with a surface 180 degrees and a body varial.
Gumby Shuv: This trick is a backside 180 degrees Shuv-it with a frontside body varial.
Canadian Shuv: This trick is a backside 360 degrees Shuv-it with a frontside body varial.
Jumps
Ollie: Jump off the water to get air without wake, must see fin/daylight.
Airs: Launching off the lip with board into the air and landing back on the wake. Nose still facing forward.
Aerial: Air with board at 90 degrees frontside.
Air grab: Air with rail grab.
Superman: Air with a grab on both sides of the board, brought up over the head into superman flying position.
Air Reverse: Air into a frontside 180 degrees.
Air Reverse 360: Air into a frontside 360 degrees.
Alley Oop: Doing an Air while spinning 180 degrees the blind direction.
Alley Oop 360: Air with a backside 360 degrees.
Widow Maker: Air with a backside 360 to surface backside 360.
Spins
Drifter: A stalled frontside 90 degrees spin with tail press.
Blind Drifter: A backside Drifter, pressing on the nose.
Front Side 180: Surface frontside 180 degrees spin.
Half Cab: Riding switch into a frontside 180 degrees spin.
360 Spin: 360 degrees spin (surface).
540 Spin: 540 degrees spin (surface).
720 Spin: 720 degrees spin (surface).
900 Spin: 900 degrees spin (surface).
1080 Spin: 1080 degrees spin (surface).
Blender: Surface frontside 180 degrees to backside 360 degrees.
Where can you learn these tricks?
You can try these and other tricks yourself at Wake-up Academy. You can also receive advice from coaches who are among the pioneers of this sport in Latvia and train the Latvian national team in wakesurfing. With us it is possible to use Skim boards as well as regular ones (thicker and more stable) so that the learning progress is faster, and we also use a professional boat - Air Nautique G20.
